Tom-the-Cat

Dear Hearts and Kindred Spirits,

Our Tom Cat, who was named for poet T.S. Eliot, has gone to the great beyond.

"Let us go then, you and I, / When the evening is spread out against the sky," is a quote from T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." We read this at Tom's funeral.

Tom in Younger Years

Tom died faithfully and quietly in his house. He lived a good and long and outdoor life of at least 17 years, though perhaps more.

Once again in northern Idaho, the dogs are inside near the wood stove. But Tom is outside no more. He has gone into the sky. Shake-a-paw is no more.

We held Tom's funeral with fur-brother Truffle and humans Mom and Grandpa.

One Christmas, soon after my mom's brother died, we had one present. It was Grandpa's homemade house, which he built for Tom and set outside the back door up on a tall shelf above the wood pile. Tom's house had cedar shakes for the roof, a mezzanine, and a round window. Tom liked his house. We did, too.

Tom's House

Tom was buried inside his house and that house was put on top of a slash pile that we lit today.

"Let us go then, you and I."

Love,
Tootsie